A female blacklegged tick converting its blood-meal into thousands of eggs. Credit: NSF/Graham Hickling, University of Tennessee

One more reason to be nervous about climate change:

Tick species Are on the March

The blood-sucking, disease-spreading parasites are expanding into new territories as wildlife populations, forest habitats and weather patterns change across North America, biologists have found.

“This year’s mild winter and early spring were a bonanza for tick populations in the eastern United States,” the National Science Foundation said today. “Reports of tick-borne disease rose fast.”

While Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, new research finds that it is not the greatest cause for concern in most Southeastern states, the NSF said in a news statement about a research paper in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health.

“The majority of human-biting ticks in the North–members of the blacklegged tick species–cause Lyme disease, but these same ticks do not commonly bite humans south of mid-Virginia,” the NSF explained.

Biologist Graham Hickling of the University of Tennessee, co-author of the Zoonoses and Public Health paper, says many patients in Southeastern states, who become sick from a tick-bite, assume they have Lyme disease, but the odds of that being the case are low.

“Ticks in the eastern U.S. collectively carry more than a dozen agents that can cause human disease,” says Hickling.

“Here in Tennessee we regularly collect lone star ticks that test positive for Ehrlichia, [a tick-borne bacterial infection]. Lone stars are an aggressive species that account for most of the human bites that we see in this region. So ehrlichiosis has to be a big concern, yet most people have never heard of it.”

In contrast, explains Hickling, there have been no confirmed reports to date of the Lyme disease pathogen among the sparse populations of blacklegged ticks found in Tennessee.

“The lone star tick is by far the most abundant tick in the Southeast, and which species of tick bites you is critical because different ticks carry different diseases. In the Southeast you are unlikely to be bitten by the blacklegged ticks that spread Lyme disease,” Stromdahl says.

Most bites in the Southeast are from the tick species that spread spotted fever rickettsiosis and ehrlichiosis, but not Lyme disease, the NSF said. “A complicating factor for public health officials is that tick species are on the move, as wildlife populations, forest habitats and weather patterns change across the continent. This spring the Tennessee Department of Health, for example, reported a 500 percent increase in tick-borne rickettsiosis.”

“Identifying health risks in the face of changing climates will be critical in coming years.”

“Identifying health risks in the face of changing climates will be critical in coming years,” says Sam Scheiner, National Science Foundation program director for the joint NSF-National Institutes of Health Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) program, which funds Hickling’s research. This study will inform public health officials about what diseases are found in which areas, so they can minimize human health problems.”

Hickling’s work is also in collaboration with scientist Jean Tsao of Michigan State University and is part of an EEID project to identify the ecological factors leading to distributions of tick species and pathogens–in particular, where the Lyme disease tick and pathogen are found.

Lyme-infected blacklegged ticks are expanding south through Virginia, and lone star ticks are moving north, the NSF said in its statement. “The bite of the lone star tick can create a bulls-eye rash that appears like that of Lyme disease, but the rash isn’t caused by the Lyme bacteria. The scientists say that this almost certainly leads to misdiagnosis of some patients in mid-Atlantic states, where both tick species are common.”

The best way to distinguish Lyme from other tick-borne diseases is to be vigilant for tick bites, and whenever possible save any tick that manages to bite you. “Store the tick in your freezer or in a vial of alcohol so it can be identified if you become ill,” the NSF recommends.

Nymphal Blacklegged Ticks of the Northeast

In the Northeast, the NSF release explained, Lyme disease awareness campaigns have focused public attention on the nymphal blacklegged tick–which is responsible for most disease transmission and which is tinier than the adult form. “While nymphal blacklegged ticks and nymphal lone star ticks–which also bite humans–can be distinguished, the two are often confused by the public. In one study, 13 of 20 patients reporting tick bites to physicians were given antibiotics on the assumption that they were at risk for Lyme disease, yet 53 of the 54 ticks removed from those same patients were lone star ticks, which do not spread Lyme disease.”

“Where you live determines which tick species is likely to bite you.”

“Where you live determines which tick species is likely to bite you,” says Tsao, “and therefore which diseases you’re most likely to contract.”

The NSF says biologists are happy that recent treatment recommendations have begun to emphasize the importance of considering the tick species and its infection status as part of the diagnostic process. “Their advice: Stay open-minded about which tick-borne diseases are most common in your area–and save the tick that bites you.”

This blog post was based on publicity material provided by the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

Lyme Disease

(From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks. The blacklegged tick (or deer tick, Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States, and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast.

Ticks can attach to any part of the human body but are often found in hard-to-see areas such as the groin, armpits, and scalp. In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36-48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted.

Most humans are infected through the bites of immature ticks called nymphs. Nymphs are tiny (less than 2 mm) and difficult to see; they feed during the spring and summer months. Adult ticks can also transmit Lyme disease bacteria, but they are much larger and may be more likely to be discovered and removed before they have had time to transmit the bacteria. Adult Ixodes ticks are most active during the cooler months of the year.

David Braun is director of outreach with the digital and social media team illuminating the National Geographic Society’s explorer, science, and education programs.

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Comments

Jessy

Church Hill Tn

June 12, 2016, 1:12 am

I live in east Tennessee and I have already found 9 ticks on my dog which lives inside. about 4 or 5 days ago I was bitten by a tick. I’m a little scared because it’s still swollen and scabbed over. Should I go to the Dr. or just wait? would going to the Dr. even do any good? Any answers appreciated!

Susie

Binghamton N.Y

September 21, 2014, 11:47 am

Deer do not cause Lyme disease. The disease is carried by the white footed mouse. Stop blaming deer for everything simply because you enjoy murdering these innocent beings thar only want to live, like you, do. All I hear about deer is that they are overpopulated., so why don΅ẗ you prove it? Are the robins or blue jays overpopulated? You write as if deer are the only species that reproduce, and you write as if they have an energizer battery built inside! The next time you pick up your bow and arrowto torture a deer, or your gun, to shoot it, try to remember the golden rule-do unto others as you would have done unto you-and, stop lying about them so you can have your fun shooting them! Believe me, it i not fun, for them.

Jessica

Chattanooga, Tennessee

June 13, 2013, 6:14 pm

I agree that this article is crap! They are basically telling us southerners not to worry about Lyme disease. Well guess what… I live in the South, haven’t travelled out of the South recently, and was just diagnosed with Lyme disease by the CDC after multiple tests confirming it. Yes, I’m an officially confirmed case. If it weren’t for articles like this, I would have been diagnosed much faster and not be as sick as I am! Instead, I went through 3 months of repeated testing and ruling everything else out even though I was showing positive for Lyme IgM antibodies. Because you “can’t get Lyme disease in the South”. If you’ve been bitten by a tick, insist on a Lyme test!!! My PCP owns 6 walk in clinics here in town and has ordered each office and every doctor to test tick bite patients for Lyme disease because of me. It is in the South and some doctors are starting to recognize it 🙂

Diana Blick

AR

May 13, 2013, 7:22 pm

Are you joking? Save the tick that bit me? I’d have a roomful as we are bitten four or five times a day in our yard during any warm day even in winter. Pesticides do not work on them nor does deet or anything else repel them. Luckily there is no question of them staying on very long as it actually hurts to be bitten. There is something else going on with these “super-ticks”.

Jim Wilson

British Columbia, Canada

September 8, 2012, 6:50 pm

I am wondering whether the author can confirm that when it is stated there is very little chance of acquiring Lyme disease from the Lone Star tick and the black legged ticks in Tennessee, are they testing for only the Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) strain B31 .bacteria? There are many other known human pathogenic Borrelia.

Bb B31 is the only one tested for in the kits approved by the US CDC that your doctor typically orders, despite the published research indicating this to be a flawed strategy, unless the goal is not to look for Borreliosis in general, but instead a Bb B31 infection only.

Tessa McCall

Keller, Texas

September 8, 2012, 9:55 am

Once again the citizens in the south have to endure another reporter who claims that the bacteria and that ticks that transmit lyme disease doesnt exist in the south. In the state of Texas the deer ticks were found in 1984. .

The state of Texas on their health web site about lyme disease says “lyme can be transmitted by the bite of a flea, tick and possibly other biting insects.” Google it and look it up its true. The CDC has known that the state of Texas did a study on fleas in 1990’s in found the bacteria harbored inthe gut of fleas. I cannot sit back and watch one more person endure the affects of this devasting disease. This disease is epidemic in this country.

Will Wiegman

Tellico Plains, TN

September 8, 2012, 9:03 am

This is a bogus article! Someone did not do their research.
I contacted Lyme from a tick bite I got in Robbinsville, NC in 2009. It took two years to get cured.

Then I was bitten again in Tellico Plains, TN after the tornado in March of 2012 and had to go through the treatment again.

Tennessee ticks do carry Lyme and anyone saying they don’t is doing the public a dangerous disservice as it is practically impossible to get cured after you get it!

Ima Ryma

September 8, 2012, 4:22 am

True vampires are seeking new blood,
As climate and habitats change,
Pouring on people like a flood,
The people’s health to rearrange.
And while the people’s blood is sucked,
A variety of disease
Into the people is implucked,
To give people a how sick tease.
The only way to know for sure
Is catch the vampire in the act,
Grab the bugger and hold secure
Until disease shows up in fact.

The doc can tell you are how sick,
Bitten by just what kind of tick.

Alexander Davis

Boston

September 7, 2012, 6:26 pm

In 1930 there were 300,000 deer in the US. Today there are 30 million. 90-95% of adult egg-laying deer ticks are hosted by deer. Ticks from one deer can produce 450,000 eggs per season which deer spread around neighborhoods. Increased deer density means increased tick density and increased Lyme disease. Warmer winters mean more deer, whose population can double in 1-2 years. The outdoors has become dangerous. The solution is to break the tick life cycle by decreasing the deer population. Adult egg-laying ticks cannot feed on mice. Deer also carry the lone star tick.

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